Laurel Teacher Brielle Wertz Attends Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy Program

This school year, Laurel teacher Brielle Wertz will bring new STEM techniques to her students. She recently graduated from the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program hosted at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Honeywell awarded a total of 210 scholarships to teachers from 27 countries and 42 states to attend its simulated astronaut training and professional development program. The program is focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)education and development activities that many teachers plan to bring to life in their classrooms this year.

Laurel is a teacher at Benjamin Banneker School.

She participated in 45 hours of professional development, as well as an intensive educator curriculum focused on space science and exploration.  Each teacher also underwent simulated astronaut training including:

·         A high-performance jet simulation

·         Scenario-based space mission

·         Land and water survival training

·         Interactive flight dynamics programs

Only about one-third of 8th graders have the skills to perform even basic mathematic computations. Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy, created in partnership with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in 2004, is designed to address these trends in STEM education by providing teachers with new technical skills and teaching techniques that help motivate students not only in the U.S. but around the world.

Since the program’s inception, more than 1,755 teachers have attended this unique and innovative program.